The Reckoning
by MyFairJohn
Summary: If Luke Skywalker's son died, how far would he go to get his revenge?  And how far would Han, Leia, Jaina, and the others go to get him back?  Please R/R.
1. Hurt  Blame

One moment, Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker was meditating in his room, very calm and relaxed. The next, he was on his feet, screaming in surprised pain. Ben was gone. Just gone, with not even a trace of him left in the Force.

Time seemed to crawl by very slowly; seconds felt like minutes, minutes could have been hours. A hand gently touched his forearm, a calming presence in the room. Leia was there, watching him with concern written all over her face. "Luke," she said softly, knowingly. "Luke."

Luke dimly heard Han ask, "What's wrong?" Han's blaster was in hand as he surveyed the room with a confused look on his face. "What happened?"

"It's Ben," she replied quietly. "He's . . . he's gone." Tears were snaking freely down her face as she shared her twin's horrible pain. "I'm sorry," she told Luke, knowing that the words did little to heal his pain.

His mouth worked as he tried to answer, but not a sound came out, except a soft keening sound. Part of his mind didn't even register where the sound was coming from, or why his sister looked so sad, so sorry.

But the other part of him just _knew_. His son was gone, had left him all alone. "No," he muttered, a sudden wave of anger rising up inside of him. Anger at himself, for sending his son to Corscant, at Jacen for turning to Darth Caedus and killing his wife and Ben, even at Leia and Han for not raising Jacen right. "No, no, no."

A reckless urge born from anger told him to chase down the Sith Lord who had caused all of this and kill him. Even though it would not bring back Mara and Ben, at least he could properly avenge their deaths.

Setting his jaw, he again focused outward, still hearing the sad keening sound. Opening his mouth to ask what it was, he heard the depressing sound stop. The sound had come from _him_.

"Oh, Luke," Leia said knowingly, her brown eyes sad. "I'm so sorry."

"Not . . . your . . . f . . . fault," he managed. "I . . . it's mine." Admitting that he, himself, was to blame for his son's own death made the hurt and anger intensify that much more.

Leia recoiled from the coldness she felt radiating from Luke's presence in the Force. "It's not your fault, either," she said emphatically. "You couldn't have known."

"I should have seen it," he replied in a somewhat calmer voice. The coldness, anger, and sadness was still there, but was drawn into a tight bundle that was held together by a new sense of resolution and decision.

"Luke, what can we do for you?" Han's voice asked from near the foot of his bed. "What do you need?"

"Leave me alone." Luke's voice shook slightly and tears still streamed freely down his face. "Please. I need to d . . . deal with this."

"You can't stay angry," Leia insisted, clutching tighter to his arm. "Anger leads to the Dark Side and the Dark Side is what caused the trouble the G.A. is having now."

"It wasn't just the Dark Side," Luke growled, losing control of his anger. "It was your son, the Sith, who killed my son, and _you made him that way_."

This was the first time Luke had ever even mentioned blaming the Solo's for how their boy had turned out, that they had had some influence on how Jacen had become a Dark Lord of the Sith.

It hurt Han intensely, cutting deep into his heart, and he saw his own pain reflected in his wife's eyes. His heart ached almost as intensely as it had following his younger son Anakin's death.

"You don't mean that," Leia said quickly, tears again filling her eyes.

"Yeah, he does," Han corrected gently and quietly. "Just let him deal with his pain his way." He pulled her away from her brother, away from his angry yet sad stare and blaming words.

"He didn't mean it, Han," she repeated. "It was the pain speaking . . ." But he could tell his wife didn't believe what she was saying, and again she began to sob. "Just the pain . . ."

Han gathered her in a warm embrace and gently led her down the corridor to their own quarters, his brother-in-law's angry words echoing on in his mind.


	2. Gone Avenging

"Leia, wake up," she dimly heard Han say. "We have company."

"Go away," she muttered in reply, not even sitting up to see who their guest was. It was probably Luke her to apologize. But she didn't want to hear it, and didn't care to even see him.

"He's gone, Mom." It wasn't Luke after all, but Jaina. Her voice sounded strained and concerned and puzzled all at the same time.

Although Leia already realized in the back of her mind who was gone and why, she still automatically asked, "Who is gone?"

Jaina took a deep breath and replied," Uncle Luke. I felt Ben disappear from the Force, and then I went to see how Uncle Luke was and he had just disappeared. Then I went to the hangar and saw that he had taken his StealthX. I think he's going to . . ."

"To hunt down Caedus," Leia finished softly. She immediately closed her eyes and reached out in the Force to her twin, sending comfort to him.

His presence was cold and tainted with anger. _No_, she sent to him. _Don't do this_.

_Revenge_, he sent back, the word making his presence seem even colder. Then, he totally shut himself off from her, severing their twin bond completely.

Leia opened her eyes and found she was lying on the floor, her head in Han's lap, with both he and Jaina staring at her with obvious concern. She shivered as if the cold she had felt from her twin was cooling the room around her.

"What's wrong?" Han asked. "Jaina, did you feel . . .?"

"Not dead, just gone. Cut off."

"How does that happen?" he demanded.

"He went to the Dark Side and didn't want to cause Mom any more pain."

Han shook his head, denial clear on his face. "Not Luke. He's too strong. He can't do this."

"Luke just lost his _wife_ and _son_, Han. His defenses were weak, and I think he just gave up trying to resist the Dark Side's temptation." Leia pushed herself out of Han's arms and off of the chilly floor. "We have to stop him before he does something he'll really regret, like . . . like . . ." _Kill Caedus_, she finished silently. _Kill the man, the Sith, who was my son._

She was angry now, intensely angry, at her brother for causing her a new round of pain. She would do anything and everything in her power to bring him back and keep him from hurting others.

"I'll warm the _Falcon_ up," Han said, forcing a reassuring smirk on his face. "We'll stop him." He strode at the door; it opened automatically and he was out into the hall . . .

. . . Where he quite literally ran into Kyp Durron, who had been spying in on their conversation, using the Force to enhance his hearing. "I'm coming with you," he said matter-of-factly. "We have to stop Master Skywalker before he comes like Caedus, or worse."

Han gave a quick nod, and led Kyp, Leia, and Jaina toward the docking bay. Jagged Fel was waiting near the _Millennium Falcon_, standing at attention below the ship's cockpit. "Captain Solo, I . . ." he began, but was cut off by a quick gesture from Han.

"Get in before the whole ship knows where we're going and decides to tag along," Jaina said, reading her father's mood. "I guess we could use some more help."

The _Falcon_ made it out of the battle cruiser and into hyperspace without any problem or too much questioning. "Now, where would he go . . ." Han muttered, to no one in particular. But still they answered him.

"Nickel One," Jaina and Kyp said simultaneously.

"Or to where Ben died, to retrieve his body," Jag offered.

Leia opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again and spoke. "To Dagobah, perhaps."

A low murmur began in Leia's head, interrupting her thoughts. It sounded like static from comm traffic, but she knew it wasn't, because the voice was distinctly Luke's. The words were jumbled together with seemingly no start or end; the words were filled with pain and anger.

Jaina gasped exactly as Leia asked," Do you hear that?"

"It's Uncle Luke, Mom," Jaina said, her eyebrows beetled together in concentration. "He's broadcasting his thoughts, almost." She paused and swallowed, a troubled look on her face. "Aunt Mara did this once during the Yuuzhan Vong war, when she was meditating, clearing her thoughts, fears, and angers out. Only Uncle Luke isn't clearing them out. He's feeding on them, like . . . like a Sith."

"I think you're right," Kyp agreed softly.

Jag and Han looked totally lost. "Well, can you understand what he's saying, uh, thinking?" Han asked.

"I heard Aunt Mara's thoughts just by reaching out to her in the Force," Jaina explained, then shrugged slightly. "We'll never know unless we try."

Leia was the first to reach out to her brother and was staggered by what she felt and heard. Luke had opened himself back up to her and was letting her see what was going on in his mind. She knew her daughter and Kyp were feeling the same thing by their startled reactions in the Force, before she tuned them out and just listened.


End file.
